


Madison's Last Chance

by mandykaysfic



Category: Stargate Atlantis
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-01-17
Updated: 2014-01-17
Packaged: 2018-01-09 01:15:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,463
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1139706
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mandykaysfic/pseuds/mandykaysfic
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Madison McKay Miller's parents were killed on the night she was to be conceived. The Council of Fairy Godmothers knew Madison was destined for greatness - she was a McKay after all - so who better to bring up a McKay than another McKay? Tradition decreed there be two parents and the Godmothers were sticklers for Tradition. Thus Madison was tasked with finding someone just right for Rodney, but six years later he was still single and the Council was out of patience. They issued Madison an ultimatum: she had one year to find someone acceptable to both Rodney and herself, or face the consequences.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Madison's Last Chance

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks to Disney for the fairy godmothers, who really aren't like this, Alice in Wonderland's costume, and the inspirational Perfect Nanny song from Mary Poppins.

Madison looked down at the man hunched over the keyboard and considered banging her head on the pile of books she sat beside. Instead, she rolled her eyes and the pair of almost transparent wings between her shoulder blades flapped agitatedly - the faint noise they made would be mistaken for the buzzing of an insect should anyone hear it. He’d messed it up again, although it wasn't totally his fault; Madison had given things a little assistance. The synapses in Carly's brain obviously fired too slowly; she took an inordinate amount of time to grasp even the simplest concepts, although her cooking was worth every calorie. However, at this rate Madison would never get her chance. Absently she tapped her wand on her chin as she stared at her uncle and then frowned when her pocket communicator chirped. She checked the incoming message. It was another Council summons.

The Council of Godmothers had not been at all happy when Madison eschewed almost all of the traditional trappings deemed part of the role of trainee fairy godmother. At the first opportunity, she'd transformed the cutesy pink dress into something trendier. After all, this was the naughties and she wasn't that old, trainee status notwithstanding. She hitched the spaghetti strap of her purple tank top back onto her shoulder and sighed. Flora, Fauna and Merryweather ruled the fairy godmothers with wands of iron and they were not pleased the only way they could get Madison to respond to their summons was via the communicator she'd modeled on Uncle Mer's cell phone – and the teensiest bit of Star Trek. She wondered how long they would keep her this time. With a flick of her wand, she quietly opened the door to the study a little so the cat could enter and leave as it pleased then she tapped the Starfleet insignia pinned to her top. 

With a combination of science and magic she'd managed to get the transporter effect pretty close to that which she'd seen on TV and she materialized in front of the Godmothers in a column of light instead of the standard tinkly swirl of stardust. Madison had heard the stories about how movie stardom had turned the three from gentle-natured, elderly fairies to egotistical tyrants. Of course, the pre-Disney days were well before her time, but the rumors describing these three as the sweetest of fairy godmothers surely had to be an exaggeration. They were mean and bossy, plain and simple. She couldn’t believe being involved with Disney had wrought so much of a personality change. Everyone knew the deal with leopards and their spots.

Madison resisted the urge to place her hands on her hips, tap her foot and offer a terse, 'Well?' in their direction. Instead, she pasted a smile on her face. Honestly, it wasn't in her best interests to completely mess with the ones who had given her a second chance at life. “Here I am.”

"Madison."

"Godmothers."

"You failed again, Madison." Flora stared over the gold framed spectacles she affected but didn't actually need.

Madison launched into her spiel. She pretended she was defending her thesis. "Upon reflection, I felt she wasn't smart enough for Uncle Mer." Flora pursed her lips. "She would have bored him silly in less than six months." Fauna tilted her head to one side and raised her eyebrows. "She would never have coped with him when he got involved with a project and ignored her." Merryweather's black eyes bored into Madison's blue ones. "All right. All right. I didn't want her for a mother. She wouldn't allow me to reach my full potential. I'm a McKay. I need two smart parents." Just like Kaleb and Jeannie McKay Miller, if a drunk driver hadn't killed them the night Madison would have been conceived.

"You would have had that with Samantha Carter," pointed out Fauna.

"That wasn't my fault," protested Madison. "Uncle Mer screwed that one up all on his own." Her use of _Dad_ as an honorific was not permitted until it was ipso facto, so she stuck to the title her parents would have taught her to use.

The godmothers inwardly concurred, but Fauna's stern tones gave none of that away as she continued, "It's your job to prevent that. However, we have not called you here to go over past failures. It has been six years, Madison. When you were offered a second chance to achieve your McKay birthright, it was with the expectation your genius would see your future settled as quickly as possible. This has not happened. We have therefore decided to offer you a choice: be assigned parent of our choosing or take up the role of fairy godmother – permanently and in the most traditional of ways. You may take a few minutes to think it over." 

Madison's wings fluttered and stilled. The godmothers were serious, and they would force her into being a godmother by offering her the dullest of parents who probably wouldn't even have the Internet connected, let alone access to the best of accelerated schooling. She pictured herself in tulle and glitter, granting wishes with a shower of sparkles and a swish of her wand, probably to the accompaniment of a corny song and fake magic words. She weighed that up against winning a Nobel and shuddered inwardly. 

Fauna cleared her throat. "We _do_ have your best interests at heart, Madison."

"Yes, Godmothers. But, please, if you take into consideration the failure with Dr Carter was not my fault, may I have one more chance? I've been thinking carefully about where things went wrong and I've made a list. Of the traditional kind," Madison added quickly as inspiration struck. 

She waved her wand and, with the best show of traditional sparkles, transformed her outfit into a neat 'Alice in Wonderland' style blue dress, complete with white apron and stockings, and black Mary Jane shoes. She took up a pose - hands behind her back, heels together and toes apart just so.

"Listen," she urged and, shamelessly borrowing from the Banks children, launched into the most Disney rendition of what she wanted in a mother.

If you want this choice position  
Have a cheery disposition.  
Good genes, cool thoughts  
Play games, no rorts. 

Can you cope with certain friction?  
Do you like science, fact and fiction?  
Take me on outings, give me treats  
Make Dad's coffee, bring us sweets. 

Don't worry if I break curfew  
Never give us lemon or tof-ew!  
Love us both as dad and daughter  
And we'll love you as we oughta!

To help me reach my full potential  
A sense of humor is essential.  
Be quick thinking, own a caring heart  
And like us you should be smart.

If you think you fit the bill  
Help us find you with a will."

Madison clasped her hands in front of her heart and smiled hopefully as she waited for the Godmothers' response.

"Oh, Madison!" Fauna smiled proudly and turned to her cohorts. "I think she's got it. What do you say?"

They huddled together, their whispered comments accompanied by trademarked swirls as they each made their various points. As one, they turned back to Madison, who'd been unable to make out anything they said, no matter how hard she tried.

"Very well. Dr McKay is shortly to be offered the opportunity of a lifetime. He will be surrounded by people of suitable intellectual standing. You will accompany him wherever he is sent. You will then have one year from the time he reaches his final destination to select a suitable person with whom you and he will be happy and get them together. You will contact us with this," Flora handed Madison a crystal star dangling from a silver chain, "and we will facilitate your place in their life as their child. If you prove unsuccessful, we will recall you to make your choice from the remaining options. Is that clear?"

"Look upon this experience as your quest, dear," twittered Merryweather. "Despite what you believe, we have progressed with the times. Quests are no longer the sole province of handsome Princes. Or gamers, I believe," she added with a wink. 

"My quest. Sure. Thanks, I guess." Madison fastened the chain around her neck, and three identically swished wands sent her back to Dr McKay's apartment in shower of red, green and blue stars.

 

 

Two weeks later, Madison exchanged her tank top and jeans for smart black thermal pants and an orange fleece to match her uncle's. Antarctica as a destination had been unexpected and Uncle Mer's project more so. She found herself a number of out-of-the-way ledges and perches from which to keep an eye on things and spent her time alternating between learning what she could about the Antarctica project and checking out potential partners for Rodney, as he preferred to be called.

The pool of candidates was not as large as the Godmothers implied. Secret government projects tended to be staffed by small numbers of people, but Madison couldn't deny these were the cream of the crop when it came to brains. However, one of her top candidates wasn't a scientist and she was having some difficulty deciding whether politics and diplomacy was a match for astrophysics; Rodney's opinion of 'soft' sciences was no secret. Granted, Dr Elizabeth Weir wasn't an expert in any of the fields he took pleasure in denigrating. She also considered herself his friend. That Rodney reciprocated the sentiment was a bonus. 

Her musings were interrupted by yet another argument between Rodney and Dr Carson Beckett. Madison liked the doctor almost as much as Rodney did. She thought his accent cute and she liked his mice too, although she tried not to get too close to them. The fate of lab mice was precarious at best. She firmly squashed any urges she got to re-enact certain scenes from certain Disney movies. Rodney must have won when Carson sighed and followed him to room with the Chair. Even in her mind Madison capitalized the word, as did everyone else on the base. She flew to her favorite vantage point in the Chair room and watched as Carson activated the Chair with his mind. 

"So cool!" Madison clapped her hands over her mouth, but luckily nobody heard the high-pitched trill from her corner.

Its energy was mesmerizing. The activity in the room faded to a background buzz as she lost herself in the glow. So engrossed was she that Madison failed to notice the hullabaloo until it was practically over. Something big had happened; Carson was more than a little shaken when he finally got to his feet. Shouted simultaneous conversations made it difficult for Madison to follow even one of them. The room emptied and the frenetic energy that had filled it died away. She hugged her knees and contemplated the Chair as she debated whether to follow Rodney or Carson to find out exactly what had happened. 

She’d decided Rodney would be the better choice and flapped her wings a little faster in preparation for heading to the work room. She pictured him already standing at the white boards, filling the surfaces with strings of equations, or maybe tapping away at one of his computers, searching for a solution to whatever Carson had done. But the urge to touch the Chair was strong today and since the room was empty, she decided to give into it. 

A trail of bright blue sparkles accompanied her passage to the chair and she frowned them out of existence. These scientists would actually hunt for an explanation for the phenomenon and she wasn't prepared to have her existence public knowledge. Trainee godmothers weren't completely forbidden from showing themselves, but for the time being she felt she had a better chance of achieving her goal if she remained undetected. 

Seated upright in the center of the Chair, she was too tiny to reach any of the controls. While she had every intention of eventually placing her hand on one of the control panels in the armrest, she spent some time pretending she could activate the Chair with her mind alone. Legs stretched out in front and hands by her sides, Madison straightened her spine, tipped her head back and closed her eyes. She'd barely pictured the Chair reclining, ready to obey her every command, when a noise disturbed her daydream.

A tall, dark-haired man had entered the room. Madison didn't recognize him. She'd familiarized herself with everyone on the base over several days and while she hadn't got everyone's names committed to memory, she knew all their faces. She took advantage of the frankly curious manner in which he was staring around the room to remove herself from the Chair and return to her earlier perch. It turned out to be not such a safe place when moments later she almost fell off. The man sat in the Chair and to the surprise of them both, it lit up ten times more brightly than it had for Carson. 

When a dimensional representation of galaxy appeared above the chair, Madison felt every bit as excited as the scientists who'd filled the room. She'd gleaned a great deal more about Rodney's secret project since coming to Antarctica. While the theoretical math and science was beyond her for now, she'd grasped some of the concepts being bandied around and had magicked herself a tablet to record her ideas. She had no idea whether she'd retain any of her current memories once she became Rodney's daughter in actuality, but in the likelihood she wouldn't, she hoped to find some way of leaving her future self a message. She rather liked the idea of some type of time capsule. 

Major Sheppard, Madison's mystery man, had certainly stirred things up. The Godmothers weren't wrong when they said Rodney would be offered the opportunity of a lifetime, but at odd moments she wondered how they knew about Atlantis. Now here they were, set to go to another galaxy. Madison thoroughly appreciated the enormity of the occasion and changed her fleece and leggings into a red uniform that matched Dr Weir's. Clutching her tablet, she inched her way into a gap between some of Rodney's carefully packed belongings. She was trying to decide whether to leave her eyes open or closed for her trip through the wormhole when it didn't matter as her chosen pallet was sent on its way.

 

On Atlantis, eight months passed quickly. Project GUMM (Getting Uncle Mer Married – there didn't seem to be a suitable acronym using 'Rodney' and everyone knew all the best projects had proper names) had advanced no further. Madison shook her head. The Godmothers may have known about Atlantis, but she was positive they had no idea about the Wraith or the Genii or the impact they and the other races so far encountered would have on the expedition. There was also the little matter of the absence of a fully charged ZPM…she planned to have words with the Godmothers when she saw them again - Madison's wand had proved useless at increasing its energy by even the smallest amount. The Athosians on the other hand proved wonderful allies and she'd quickly added Teyla to her list of suitable mothers; being the first human-alien child could be exciting. 

Her spread sheet looked sparse: Elizabeth Weir, Kate Heightmeyer, Katie Brown, Margaret Biro, Helen Simpson, Miko Kusanagi, Laura Cadman, Teyla Emmagan. None of them met all of her criteria. She checked them off, one by one. 

On her plus side, Dr Heightmeyer possessed a cheerful disposition, she liked children as evinced by the way she dealt with the Athosian children and she knew all about Rodney’s particular foibles. On the other hand, she knew all about Rodney’s particular foibles. She’d probably expect him to leave the lab at a reasonable hour every day when there wasn’t a crisis of epic proportions requiring his particular expertise, unlike Major Sheppard, who apparently understood Rodney's ability to immerse himself in his research to everything else but knew instinctively when it was safe to go and extract him. Madison reluctantly decided Kate would be better staying as Rodney's counsellor.

Dr Biro wasn't as pretty as Kate, so it was highly probable Rodney wouldn't even notice she existed as a possible partner. He'd mentioned blonde and buxom as two things that would be on his list and Margaret didn't qualify in those departments. Nice looks was on Madison's wish list, along with good genes, so the fact Margaret had worn glasses since her sixth birthday, something Madison had overheard her telling one of the marines, was a double cross on the spreadsheet. Kind hearted and good at card games didn't outweigh her habit of incessant talking either. She should take a leaf from Major Sheppard's book; he didn't talk too much while still being kind hearted and good at cards. 

Dr Simpson was on Madison's list by virtue of being a self-confessed sci-fi geek. She'd even knitted her own Tom Baker Doctor Who scarf, but as far as Madison was concerned, that was her only good point. Her temper had the shortest fuse of practically anyone one the base and she held a grudge for the longest time ever. She'd even starred in a couple of Madison's nightmares and that was reason enough to remove her from the list altogether, even if she did help get the Puddlejumper unstuck that time, thereby saving Rodney and everyone else. (Blonde so did not count in this instance!)

Dr Brown was almost the opposite of Helen Simpson. Patient and forgiving – that was Katie. Madison had an inkling she'd need fairly frequent forgiving as she got older; she was sure stubbornness was an inherited trait and the McKay genes were strong. It was highly probable the Brown genes wouldn't be enough to temper them. Although, she wasn't sure she wanted her genetic inheritance diluted – she did have her eye on a Nobel Prize, and while Katie was bright, otherwise she wouldn't be part of the Stargate program, Madison couldn't help wondering whether Katie was too patient and too forgiving. She sighed and moved onto the next person on her list. 

If good genes had been the only thing on her list, then Dr Kusanagi would be right up at number one. She had the ATA gene, and Madison wanted that practically more than anything. It seemed she had a crush on Rodney so she'd no doubt overlook his bad habits, but Madison really wanted someone who loved Rodney (and her) and her godmother-in-training instincts told her this crush would never be any more; poor Miko was simply too overwhelmed by Rodney's brilliance to be herself and she'd always give in to him. Besides, no matter how hard she tried, Miko always mixed up Star Trek and Star Wars, not to mention most of the superheroes, which would drive Rodney (and Madison) crazy. Madison couldn't understand it. How could they ever watch anything if Miko couldn't quote any of the lines? She giggled as she pictured the scene that took place the last movie night Rodney and Major Sheppard shared when they'd launched into the theme song of 'Attack of the Killer Tomatoes'. He was all right, even if he preferred Superman to Batman. And, how could she forget, he had the best ATA gene. 

The last three names on Madison's list failed to conform to one of the Godmother's strictest rules and accordingly should never have made it on there in the first place. Their hearts all belonged to another. A reconnaissance mission, (to Madison's way of thinking calling it that sounded better than snooping), to Dr Weir's quarters yielded photographs and other evidence that one Dr Simon Green held a special place in her heart. Laura Cadman, of whom Madison was rather fond, and Carson Beckett had recently become an item. Finally, Madison's trainee godmother instincts had kicked into overdrive on a _reconnaissance mission_ to the mainland. Teyla's heart belonged to a young man who shared her Wraith-sensing abilities; she just didn't realize it yet. For a moment, Madison debated whether to wave her wand in true godmother fashion and help things along, but getting Teyla and Kanaan together wasn't her responsibility.

Madison sighed again and closed her file. Now would be a good time to check on Rodney and maybe she could think of someone else who would suit the needs of both McKays. She found him with Major Sheppard, spending some of their rare downtime checking out one of the unexplored corridors. Technically that meant they were working, but they were having obviously having fun. 

The four rooms comprised a series of labs. Madison smiled fondly as she surveyed the two heads bent close together over a _calculator_? Going by their conversation, it had some sort of mathematical function. She settled on the top of a tall console where she could watch them unobserved. A warm, comfortable feeling started somewhere in her tummy and spread through her until even the tips of her fingers and toes tingled with it. There was something satisfying being with her two most favourite people in the world. 

"Major John Sheppard," whispered Madison. She'd grown increasingly fond of him. Spending time in Rodney's presence had perforce meant spending much of that also with John. He was so cool. She was sure she would be able to convince him to let her ride his skateboard, not to mention teach her to surf, things she knew Rodney would have no interest in doing; there would be other stuff to do with Rodney.

She swung her legs contentedly and pretended she was ten years old, living on Atlantis, helping Rodney and John with their work by using her ATA gene to initiate newly discovered pieces of Ancient technology.

It was their sudden silence that pulled Madison out of her daydream. She almost fell off her perch as her head craned forward, her eyes widened and her legs stilled. How had she missed _that_? Rodney and John had their arms around one another, _kissing_! Even she could tell that wasn't the first kissed they'd exchanged. 

"I love you, you know."

"Yeah. Me, too. Love you, that is."

"Oh, wow!" Madison thought she'd burst with excitement when she heard them say the words.

In typical McKay fashion, Madison's thoughts popped in and out at top speed as she considered and discarded alternatives. When she'd finished thinking, Rodney and John were still entwined. The Godmothers had only specified two parents, not a mother and father, and she liked John better than any of Rodney's prospective partners, not to mention they obviously liked each other best. She waved her wand, looking anxiously for the signal that would confirm it was true love, the only kind acceptable to the Godmothers. She breathed a sigh of relief at the shiny pink hearts that appeared in the air above their heads, which winked out of existence before they were noticed. So how could she get two dads? 

Confident she wouldn't be noticed, Madison left the lab and took herself to one of the unused rooms in the living quarters. She clutched the crystal pendant and wished. 

The sparkles were blue, signalling Merryweather's arrival. "You're in another galaxy, my dear," she explained when Madison wondered why she'd come alone. "So, you've completed your quest, and well within the allotted time. I knew you could do it. When's the wedding?"

Madison rubbed her nose. "Um, you see, that's kind of the problem. There might not be a wedding."

"Ah." Merryweather sighed. "It's not like the olden days. Well, we've made some adjustments to the code. As long as they satisfy the requisite sign of true love a wedding is no longer necessary. Did they?"

"The pink hearts? Oh, yes." Madison beamed as Merryweather smiled in relief.

"And you definitely want them to be your parents?"

"Oh, yes please. They're the ones I want more than anything."

" Then it's simply a matter of timing. There is some leeway. Do you wish to arrive in nine months time? Or would a year suit better?"

"Um, that depends," replied Madison cautiously. 

"Yes?" encouraged Merryweather.

"Er…um….It depends on whether you can fix it so I have two dads." Madison pinned Merryweather with a hopeful look. 

"Madison!"

"If you can't, then, then I guess I'll be a fairy godmother," she said and gulped back a sob. 

"Well done, dear," praised Merryweather. "You've passed the test and made the right choice. Fortunately Atlantis is the home of the Ancients. Here, it's not impossible." She shooed Madison into the lab next door to the one John and Rodney occupied.

"But how…?"

"Never you mind. Let me see." Merryweather examined a large container set into a complex system of equipment obviously designed to monitor the contents of the container. She waved her wand as she sang a spell. She took Madison's left hand and placed it on a panel, which glowed briefly. She did the same with Madison's right hand and an identical panel situated some ten inches to the right of the first.

"You'll need to keep watch. When the time is right, wave your wand three times clockwise and repeat these words." She whispered the spell into Madison's ear. "Rodney and -?"

"John," suppled Madison.

"Rodney and John will place a hand each on those panels. The equipment will remove the necessary sample and mix them together with yours. Really, Madison! The panels didn't light up for the fun of it." Merryweather frowned as Madison opened her mouth. "Here they are. Up here, quickly!"

They watched from a dark corner. Even Merryweather had to admit she was impressed with the speed at which Rodney and John deciphered the nature of the equipment. They worked well together and with them as parents, Madison would be assured her heritage. 

"Godmother?" whispered Madison.

"Hush!" Merryweather listened a little longer and then waved her wand. The pink hearts never lied. "Very well, Madison. Their path will not be easy, but the best destinies never are."

"Now?" Maybe it would be better to wait the few months she had left of her time. Madison gnawed a hangnail as she stared at her parents-to-be.

"Now."

Madison waved her wand and repeated the incantation.

Merryweather watched as the panels lit beneath the men's hands.

"What about -?" cried Madison as she faded from view. 

With a flick of her wrist, Merryweather hid Madison's tablet behind a panel keyed to Madison's ATA gene. She'd find it when the time was right. Now it was time to return home and report back to the Council.

 

Nine months later, Rodney and John welcomed their daughter into the world. They named her Jocelynn. Maddy for short, she insisted when she was old enough.

 

END


End file.
